Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes

I really had a huge craving for lemony stuff, so after my run, I whipped up some lemon poppy seed cupcakes from my handy dandy cupcake book! Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans, has wonderful recipes and delicious looking pictures. A-mazing! I didn’t have any buttermilk on hand, (I don't do the grocery shopping!) so I just used regular milk and some yogurt…they were delicious, a little on the dry side, probably cause I didn’t use buttermilk, but still good ☺

Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes (cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans)

Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ stick butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tbs poppy seeds
½ cup (butter) milk

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.
Sift: Flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl: beat butter, sugar until smooth.
Add eggs one at a time, beating until batter looks creamy
Mix in vanilla, lemon zest, poppy seeds
Add half the flour mixture, mixing on low speed
Mix in butter milk
Add remaining flour mixture
Bake until tops feel firm and toothpick comes out clean, (18 minutes)

Bale Bakery's Fig and Walnut Bread - Review

Bale Bakery is a Hawaii based sandwich/bakery, and provides food to many of Honolulu's finest restaurants. I love their sandwiches (veggie), coconut tapioca, and rainbow jello, but I especially love their baked goods. Bale's products can be found at many of the farmer's markets such as KCC. Bale Bakery bakes a wide variety of goods, from cookies to sweet breads to danishes and lavosh. However, I love the taste of bread, especially breads with tons of yummy things in it like nuts or cranberries...just like Bale Bakery's Fig and Walnut bread!

It's really tasty, and has A LOT of fibers :) (tmi? but can't you just see all those fig pieces!!!) Bale's fig and walnut bread has a great texture, a very rustic feel to it, and wonderful as an afternoon snack or breakfast bread. There's so much figs and walnuts that there's no need for butter or jam! The figs are so sweet, and the walnuts perfectly balance their flavor.

Brownies using a mix..but w/ no oil!

today i really wanted to eat a brownie, so when I finished my super boring geo hw, i decided to make brownies. Since i was short on time, i used a brownie mix :O. my favorite box brownie mix is the ghirardelli one! i've used the hershey's box mix, just to try it, and it wasn't as good. i just happened to be reading the oil nutrition facts before making the brownies, so i really really didn't want to be oil in the brownies. Can you believe how much calories can be packed in such a tiny amount of liquid! I substituted 2 of those snack size apples sauce cups in place of the oil, and they weren't dry at all! I used two packages, and divided the batter into two packages. One of them i took out 10 minutes before the cook time, and it was a lot moister than the pan i left for the full cook time. The "undercooked" one was a lot better than the "normal" cookie one. However, when they first came out of the oven, they were kinda crispy. I love crispy stuff, so i loved them when they come out. I left them for awhile just to see if they would soften up because my family likes soft stuff (chewy cookies...)The next day, they were quite soft and the ones that were undercooked were very moist.


Brownie Recipe
Ghirardelli brownie mix
Apple Sauce (snack size cups, the ones that go into lunches)
Eggs
follow recipe on the box, but substitute 2 snack size cups of apple sauce and reduce bake time by 10 minutes.

Blondies

This is from Dorie Greenspan's cook book, Baking from my home to yours, and it's filled with tons of super yummy looking recipes. I chose to make the blondies since they sounded really tasty. The bar was firm but soft and filled with tons of yummy things like chocolate chips and toffee. I opted to take out the walnuts and coconuts since no one here really likes them, and they still turned out really well :)

Chewy, Chunky Blondies
Dorie Greenspan-Baking from my home to yours

2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 ounces or 1 cup chocolate chips
1 cups butterscotch chips or toffee bits
1 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1, preheat oven to 325 and butter a 9x13 pan
2. mix four, baking powder and soda, and slat
3. beat butter until smooth and creamy. add both sugars and then eggs one by one. add the vanilla
4. mix in dry ingredients until it disappears into batter and stir in chocolate, toffee (walnuts, and coconut)
5. pour into pan and bake for 40 minutes

Super Crispy Cookies

I was making caramel cuts, and decided to make cookies as well. The oven was already set at 300˚ F, but I forgot about this, and so I was wondering why after 10 minutes they weren’t done. I left them in the oven for about 20 minutes, and when I tried them they were super super crispy! It was delicious and oh so crispy and crunchy.

Super Crispy Cookies
1 cup bread flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
pinch salt
4 tbs butter
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups add ins (I used left over cereal, granola, oatmeal, praline pecans, cranberries, trail mix)

Cream butter and sugars in large mixer bowl. Add egg and vanilla and stir until mixed. Add flour mixture and oat mixture, stirring until incorporated. Scoop dough onto cookie sheets. Bake at 300 ˚F for 20 minutes.

Sugar Cookies

These are super good, and perfect for icing and christmas. They were actually pretty easy to make. I figured out a way to roll out the dough, cut out the shapes, and put them on the pan without messing up the shape because they become too soft. Since the weather here is so humid, (even during the winter,) hawaii has the same temp all the time..duh, i rolled the dough out between plastic wrap after making it, after I rolled it into nice sheets, i stuck it in the freezer, by the time i was done rolling out all the dough, the first dough sheet i put in was firm enough to be cut out. the dough was slightly frozen, but not so much they wouldn't cut, and just enough they held their shape for the seconds it took me to press the cookie cutter and transfer the cookie.

Best Rolled Sugar Cookie

Sugar Cookie
Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
* 2 cups white sugar
* 4 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 5 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Gross Experimental Lemon Chocolate Cookies...

Today was a Saturday, and I really did not feel like doin my homework, so I decided to experiment with some lemon flavored Guittard chocolate I found. I thought I could use a chocolate chocolate cookie recipe as the base of the cookie. I found a recipe, but when I found a recipe and began making the cookies, I didn’t even look at it! I just made it up, and so the end results wasn’t that good. ☹ It tasted lemony and cookie-like but I think I’m gonna have to experiment a little more…

Experimental Lemon Chocolate Cookies (were kinda gross…☹)
Ingredients
½ cup melted chocolate (I used lemon guittard)
1 cup flour
½ stick butter
pinch of salt
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp. lemon extract

1. combine butter and sugar, add to melted chocolate
2. mix in egg and lemon extract
3. combine flour and salt
4. bake for 10 minutes at 350˚F

Random Pictures

Big Island, Hawaii

Chocolate Chip Cake - in Japanese

okay...so im a teenager, and still go to school so this is one of my projects for japanese class. Since I'm still learning japanese, my vocabulary is pretty basic, and since we had to create a video of us making the thing and saying directions in japanese, we chose to use a box cake mix, and make it our own by throwing in chocolate chips :) (i noticed i use a lot of smiley faces..is that weird..?) okay, so it turned out...well normal. the normal cake from a yellow cake mix box...not delicious at all..but none the less, really easy, and I got an A for the project. woohoo! so i learned that chocolate chips sink to the bottom of the cake..i wonder how to make the chips suspended in the cake...hmm..i thought for those snowy days...well since it never snows in Hawaii, I mean rainy days...

チョコレトチプスのケーキの作り方

ざいりょう：
ケーキのミックス　一はこ
水ーカップ
あぶら三分の一カップ　
たまご三個　
チョコレートチップ一カップ


チョコレートチップのケーキ

まずオーベンを三百五十どに熱くして下さい。つぎに、大きいなべにケーキのミックスとあぶらと生たまごを入れて下さい。つぎに、ぜんぶをまぜてください。そのあとで、チョコレートチップを大きいなべに入れて下さい。ゆっくりまぜて下さい。つぎに、ケーキのなべに入れます。そのあとで、オーベンにケーキのなべをおいて下さい。三十五分あとでケーキが出来ました。とても熱いです。だから、気をつけて下さい。すずしくします。おわりに、厚くきります。いただきます！おいしすぎます。

Crepe Store and Homemade Crepes - the best yet :)

There is a small crepe store in Manoa (between bostons pizza and some new mexican restaurant) called le crepe cafe. their batter is made daily, and the inside of the cafe is very cozy; there are only about 4 or 5 tables. there are tables outside, but the loud mexican music and the smell of pizza totally ruin the experience. The smell inside the store, however, is amazing. The fragrant smell of fresh crepes, sugary goodness, and the all around coziness the store has. They are even eco friendly for all those eco nuts.... :p biodegradable utensils, recycled plates, yah kno that sorta thing. Oh and on to the crepe...their crepes are totally delicious! Savory or sweet, either one is delish. I've tried the cinn sugar, and it's pretty good. not so much sugar it overwhelms the crepe, but not too little there is more crepe than sugar. but..my favorite crepe is their romeo and juliet crepe. its super super good :). its nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread), bananas, and strawberries, all wrapped up in a super yummy freshly made crepe. yum!

okay..so i can't go to the crepe store everyday, so i decided to try to make my own. I've watched worst cooks in america when they had to make crepes, and they made it look really really hard. but when I made them, it was actually pretty easy. I just typed in crepe recipe into google, and found this recipe on allrecipes.com. there were a ton of great reviews, so i decide to try this recipe. it turned out great, unlike the contestants on worst cooks (thats a hilarious show btw).. so i figured out the trick was to make is so the pan wasn't too hot, or else the batter would cook on contact and not spread. Another tip would be to put the filling on the crepe when its on the plate. i kinda burned my fingers a lot when folding the thing together cuz i accidently touched the pan.. :(. So I put cinnamon sugar on my crepe, but my brother put chocolate and whipped cream on his. They were so good and I would totally make this recipe again. I didn't put in 2 tablespoons of butter, instead I put in 1, and it turned out fine. Next time I think I might not put any butter in just to see how that would turn out.

Adapted Basic Crepe Recipe - All Recipes

Ingredients

* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; Sift in flour, and beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium heat. Pour the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
3. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

Homemade Crepe:

best radio

so i forgot my itouch and i wanted to listen to music, but i only had my laptop. so i was just doin my homework in silence, until i was like duh, just look up music on google. so like after i looked it up and all that stuffs, i found this super cool site called grooveshark. its an FREE online radio that has like all the best songs! Like right now im listening to use somebody by kings of leon, its great! the site is free, and i dont even have to buy the songs. when i first clicked on the link i was a little hesitant cause it took a super long time to load and i wasn't sure if it was gonna do something weird...u neva no...but since i didn't like the other sites, i clicked on it again and let it load. so wait for it to load cuz its totally worth it. I didn't know this, but i guess it saves ur playlist or something cuz today i looked it up again and it asked if i wanted to reload my old playlist...pretty cool huh

Lemon Meringue Pie :)

this is a pie recipe for a lemon meringue pie. it was pretty decent, I really like the lemony filling! I'm not a huge fan of soft meringues (I love the hard ones..haha), so i would scrape off the meringue stuff. The crust was interesting. I didn't follow the recipe, and instead used animal crackers and stale graham crackers. That didn't really work. The crust was on the chewy side, and I probably should've toasted the crackers before pulverizing them and adding the butter. Maybe the filling leaked into it or something... hmm..well anyways this is the recipe for a tangy dessert...:

Recipe for Lemon Meringue pie -epicurious
Lemon Meringue Pie

yield: Makes one 9- to 10-inch single crust pie
Ingredients
For shell

* 1 recipe Pastry Dough for a single-crust 9- to 10-inch pie
* raw rice or pie weights for weighting shell


For filling

* 1 cup sugar
* 5 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup water
* 1/2 cup milk
* 4 large egg yolks
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
* 2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest


For meringue

* 4 large egg whites
* 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1/2 cup sugar


Preparation

Make shell:
On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough into a 13-inch round, (about 1/8 inch thick) and fit into a 9-inch (1-quart) pie plate. Trim edge of dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, and crimp edge decoratively. Prick shell in several places with a fork and chill, covered, 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Line shell with wax paper and fill with rice or pie weights. Bake shell in middle of oven 10 minutes. Remove paper and rice carefully and bake shell until golden, about 12 minutes more. Cool shell in pie plate on a rack.

Lower oven temperature to 350°F.

Make filling:
In a heavy saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt and gradually whisk in water and milk, whisking until cornstarch is dissolved. In a bowl whisk together egg yolks. Cook milk mixture over moderate heat, whisking, until it comes to a boil. Gradually whisk about 1 cup milk mixture into yolks and whisk yolk mixture into milk mixture. Simmer mixture, whisking, 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter, lemon juice, and zest until butter is melted. Cover surface of filling with plastic wrap.

Make meringue:
In another bowl with an electric mixer beat egg whites with cream of tartar and a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks. Beat in sugar in a slow stream, beating until meringue just holds stiff peaks.

Pour filling into shell and spread meringue on top, covering filling completely, sealing it to pastry. Draw meringue up into peaks and bake pie in middle of oven until meringue is golden, about 15 minutes.

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake - Good Housekeeping

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake from Good Housekeeping
Ingredients

* 1/3 cup(s) sugar
* 1/4 cup(s) sugar, plus additional for ramekins
* 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
* 2 Meyer or regular lemons (up to 3)
* 3 large eggs, separated
* 2 tablespoon(s) butter or margarine, melted and cooled
* 1 cup(s) whole milk
* 1 pint(s) raspberries, for garnish
* Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease eight 4- to 5-ounce ramekins; sprinkle with sugar to coat bottoms and sides. Shake out any excess.
2. On sheet of waxed paper, with fork, combine flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt. From lemons, grate 1 1/2 tablespoons peel and squeeze 1/2 cup juice. In large bowl, with wire whisk, beat egg yolks and lemon peel and juice. Whisk in butter and milk. Gradually whisk in flour mixture.
3. In another large bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar until soft peaks form when beaters are lifted, about 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add one-third beaten whites to yolk mixture and, with rubber spatula, stir gently until incorporated. Gently fold in remaining whites until just incorporated. With ladle, divide batter evenly among prepared ramekins.
5. Arrange ramekins 1 inch apart in large (17-inch by 13-inch) roasting pan. Fill pan with enough hot water to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Carefully transfer pan to oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until cakes are golden brown and tops rise 1/2 inch above rims.
6. Cool cakes in pan on wire rack 5 minutes. With sturdy metal spatula, carefully remove ramekins from pan with water and transfer to wire rack to cool 15 minutes longer.
7. Run thin knife around edge of 1 ramekin. Place small serving plate on top of ramekin and invert plate and ramekin together; remove ramekin. Repeat with remaining ramekins. Garnish each cake with a couple of raspberries and a mint sprig; serve warm.

Sushi Izakaya Gaku

What: A Japanese Izakaya that has the BEST ikura on the island, and it almost is as good as japans.

Where: on the right side of king street. everytime we go we have trouble finding it because we're never sure how far to go down king st. sometimes we have to double back because we missed it.

Pos: they have the best ikura(salmon roe, my fav food)! they make their own sauce, and this sauce is perfect. somehow the eggs are always super big and never deflated or squished. their tamago is also very good. they even brand the top with their logo. if you like fried chicken or non fatty meat, this place also has really good karaage chicken and sometimes they have a filet mignon special.

Neg: there's nothing really bad about this restaurant.

Recommend: ikura, tamago, chazuke

Price: price ranged depending on dish. sushi sets are about 30 and ikura is about 6 or 8 for two pieces.

Parking: the parking lot is in the back, and is very hard to get in and out. I would advise going after 630 because parking infront of the restaurant is only allowed after 630 and on holidays. walmart is also only about a 5-10 minute walk away.

Note: nope, no notes

Kid Friendly: its an upscale japanese restaurant with really good food, so i would say it is, but i guess not every kid likes really good japanese food.

Sushi Izakaya Gaku
1329 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96814-2341
(808) 589-1329

Mana Bu's

What: a super cute japanese musubi store called mana bu's this store also has little japanese treats like strawberry mochi, egg cakes, sweet potato salad, and other japanese dishes.

Where: Also on king street. Right next to the baskin robins.

Why: These musubis are super super cute and they're made daily. they have a variety of musubis. (salmon, unagi, ume, kombu, shiso and wakame, teri spam, and a ton of other combinations.) they make their musubis with either 10 grain rice, white rice, or brown rice. along with the yummy musubis they have dessert and other japanese dishes. they have custard, super good coffee gelatin, and azuki strawberry mochi. the egg cake is super super yummy. its perfectly seasoned, not too sweet, and not too salty. yum.

Recommend: I think their best musubi is the salmon, ume, and kombu. The strawberry mochi is also one of the best ive ever had. each ingredient is made fresh, and its super amazingly delicious!

Price: about 1.65 for one musubi, about 2.35 for a pudding/custard/mochi, 2-3 dollars for the japanese dishes

Parking: yea, but the parking lot is very cramped. the lot is the same one as the baskin robins, and other restaurants in that area.

Notes: the musubis and desserts sell out very quickly, so if you want a bigger selection I would advise going when earlier than later. On weekdays, they open at 730, but there is a limited selection at 830 and 930 they bring out a more variety. you can also pre-order a selection of musubis. the form is on their site and can be faxed in. they said you can even reserve just one!

The owners of the shop are a japanese couple, and they are very dedicated to their work. Before they hired help, they would wake at 3 in the morning to hand make each musubi. they would also close early at 1, and would wake again to make musubis. they now have hired help, and are open for more than four hours!

Mana Bu's
1618 S.King St.
Honolulu, HI 96826
ph: (808) 358-0287
fax: (808) 945-2323

Nestle Choc-oat-Chips cookies

choc-oat-chip cookies! yummy! these again were too chewy for my taste. But then again they weren't half bad either. We just bought some agave so I substituted agave for some of the sugar and added some raisins to a few cookies. The cookies were moist, chewy, and perfect with a glass of cold milk or a steaming mug of hot cocoa. I love the smell of cookies baking in the oven, and these cookies made the house smell so good, my mouth was watering!

Nestle Toll House Choc-oat-Chips cookies

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat brown sugar, butter and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, morsels and nuts; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies or 12 to 13 minutes for crispy cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Waiola Shave Ice

What: Shaveice! the best shaved ice covered in yummy syrup ever! its shaved ice in a bowl or cup, covered in syrup of your choice (pog, calpico, vanilla, strawberry), and there are even toppings! (ice cream(<--my fav), azuki bean, mochi).

Where:There are two locations. One near Punahou School, and the other on kapahulu ave, close to genki sushi.

Why: Super sugary frozen dessert. yum! its also super hot on oahu, so the cool frozen treat is a perfect way to cool off. There are a ton of shave ice places on oahu, and waiola is one of the best cuz its close to town, and the ice chunks are perfectly shaved. the people also put a perfect amount of syrup on each one! not too much making it taste too sweet, but not too little either cuz or else it would be pretty much just ice. :( ew.

Price: umm...not really expensive i think...umm... im pretty sure its only a few dollars... lol

Parking: Yup, at both locations, but when it gets busy, parking becomes very tight.

Notes: there are ton of flavors and different combinations, so make sure you dont get super confused!! my favorite flavor is lilikoi, i dont really like the vanilla...

Waiola Store
2135 Waiola Street, Honolulu - (808) 949-2269

Waiola Bakery & Shave Ice II
525 Kapahulu Avenue, Honolulu - (808) 735-8886

The one near Punahou

Great Harvest Bread Co.

What: A great bread company that is originally from Montana.

Where: They have several locations on Hawaii, and many others across the nation.

Why: They have awesome bread combinations, and super tasty bakery goods. Some of their best breads are cinnamon chip, 3 cheese garlic, and any white choc. breads. Their cookies are the size of my head, and i'm pretty sure they still do this program where kids color a picture of the month to receive a free cookie. They also have bars, such as lemon bars, turtle bars, and mango bars. All of the bakeries make different breads and baked goods, so depending on the location, the products will vary.

Price: bread 6-9, bakery items 2-5

Note: Like the cupcake place, they rotate their bread combinations and bakery items daily, so check the nearest great harvest's menu.

Parking: Yup

Great Harvest Bread Co.
Hawaii Great Harvest Bread Co.

Jimbo - Japanese Noodle Place

What: Jimbo, a japanese restaurant that makes their own udon noodles daily.

Where: located on the many restaurant filled street of King st.

Why: They make their own noodles, duh. It's also my fav place since i was like 5. They currently have lunch specials, and one of my favorite sets of the specials is a bowl of udon, and two musubis filled with kombu, salmon, and ume. My favorite set is the shrimp tendon combo and hot udon with nothing in it. (Rice w/ a special sauce, tempura, and cold/hot udon).

Price: about 10-15 for one set

Notes: Casual dining. Open for lunch and dinner. They have lunch specials, and usually during lunch they fill up quickly.

Parking: uh huh, in the front and the back. The parking in the back is only accessible from the street behind the restaurant, so its probably easier to go to the parking lot in the front.

Jimbo
1936 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96826-2153
(808) 947-2211

Imanas Tei - A japanese izakaya

What: A popular japanese izakaya called imanas tei.

Where: Also on King st, but closer to the diamon head side.

Why (Pos.): This place is unbelievably cheap! 6 people who ordered a substaintial about of food only cost about 140 bucks (grat. not included)!

Why Not (Neg.): I've been to this restaurant many times, and for some reason this past time I went the service was horrible slow. Not only were they slow, but there were six people eating and four people had finished their meals way before the other two were even served their food, and all they ordered was a roll! They also didn't bring us water, and everyone was dying of thirst!!

Note: The ikura here isn't as good as other places (Gaku!). It's very casual, and I suggest the nabe because that's what everyone else seems to get, however, I like sushi, and so have never tried it.

Price: Pretty darn cheap!

Parking: Yea, but it's kinda packed cuz the lot is super tiny, only about 10 cars fit. There is a parking lot for other shops near the restaurant, but this parking isn't free.

Imanas Tei
2626 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96826-3248
(808) 941-2626

Red Mango -Frozen Yogurt

What: The best chain yogurt store!!! called red mango!

Where: there are two in hawaii, one @ kahala mall, the other in waikiki, and there are tons around the country, and even in other parts of the world...indonesia cough cough...

Why (pos): their original yogurt is AMAZING. its sooo tasty. the others are also super good! the yogurt isn't ice cream-like like other yogurts, its tart but sweet, and very very refreshing.

Why not (neg): there are only a few flavors (pom, original, tangomoniom, green tea, cocoa) and limited number of toppings. (but super tasty yogurt!)

Price: about 2.50 for a small and im pretty sure it increases a dollar a size. 50 cents for every topping. 5 something for a parfeit.

Parking: the one in waikiki doesn't really have a parking lot, there are however, parking lots in the hotels, and if you stay in the hotel, it doesn't really matter. (lol) the red mango at kahala mall does however have a parking lot. (duh, its a mall)

Notes: the red mango stores in hawaii don't have the cocoa flavor. Im pretty sure there are 3 sizes for the yogurt, parfaits, blenders, and smoothie.



Red Mango @ kahala mall

Cake Couture

Pumpkin and Strawberry


Chocolate Mint (frosting tastes like toothpaste...)


Lemon, Red Velvet, and Vanilla



What: CUPCAKES!!!! Cake Couture has the BEST cupcakes on Oahu.

Where: The store is located right next to the new Foodland Farms in aina haina.

Why: It has been voted best of Honolulu, and I totally agree with that. I've had their red velvet, vanilla, strawberry, lemon, gingerbread, pumpkin, carrot, and chocolate cupcakes. The cream cheese frosting on some of the cupcakes are amazing. Flavorful without being too sweet. Even the plain sweet vanilla frosting is amazing. The strawberry frosting, however, isn't that special. My favorite flavor was lemon. It had the perfect lemony taste without being too tart. The cake bases are all very tasty. But I have to say the frosting is the part to look forward to.

Notes: Like many other cupcake places, they rotate their menu daily, so check their menu!

Parking: Yes


Cake Couture
820 West Hind Drive
Honolulu, HI 96821-1849
(808) 373-9750

First Entry

Yay! my first entry. oh and btw most of these reviews will be of restaurants on Oahu, Hawaii, but occasionally there will be reviews about other restaurants from other places! So this first post is just to test out how it looks and all that fun stuff. So....how does it look...hmmm....welll pretty good. so actual reviews are coming soon!